Rochefort Trappistes 8

Brewed by Brasserie Rochefort
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Rochefort, Belgium

07 07 04 Poured dark brownish/crimson color with a thin foamy head and some nice lacing. Sweet, fruity, some alcohol as well in the aroma. Dark cherries and chocolate taste. Finished rather spicy (cinnamon) that was nicely carbonated with a moderate alcohol burn.

Cloudy coppery brown with a large rocky tan head that settled in a few minutes. Bread and fruit aromas with some subtle spice notes. Flavor of fruit esters on top of a caramel malt base. A bit of a wine like flavor with the alcohol just barely coming through. A sense of licorice can be found too.

Best before 23 10 07; Tasted September 19, 2004: Pours a dark amber color with a big head. Very malty aroma. A dry malt taste followed up with a bit of stale bread. Interesting and tasty, but not one of my favorites. A bit of spice as well. 8/4/7/3/15

Best before 27 12 12; Tasted December 12, 2009: This one started odd. Never had a Trappist beer start do the slow-mo gusher routine. My surprise was compounded by the first pour, which had the consistancy of a milkshake. The bottle hadn’t been moved in a year, so how all the freaking yeast got stirred up like I played a soccer game with the bottle, I have no idea. Cloudy brown color with a meidum head that fades immediately. Massive sediment. Aroma of Munich malt, caramel, brown sugar and a bit of biscuit character. Taste is really odd... The rum, molasses and caramel would suggest that I’d love this beer to death. The carbonation like Champagne, cooked veggies and celery indicate this was actually brewed by the moronic brew pub in the backwoods that thinks adding brown food coloring to sewer water makes it beer. I’ve never been more turned off by a Trappist, including my hate-accept-loathe relationship with Orval. It gets one more try... 7/2/6/2/14

330ml bottle. Dark golden brown . Spicy smell. Creamy head. Harmonic flavour. A warming beer.

BB 2008. Very drab dark chestnut brown with plenty of greys and lighter yellows. Big foamy off-white head. Served quite warm, 53-55 degrees. Bottle conditioned. Aroma of sweet dates, rum raisins and some faint hops? or perhaps that's just the yeast. Aroma fairly faint overall. Begins extremely delicate, walnuts, green raisins and a touch of chocolate. Body has some lively effervesence and finish ends on a nice yeasty bite. Texture of English soda bread. Body very restrained and a good medium. Light candied sugars throughout, some plant/root flavors and alcohol is quite apparent on the finish while warm. This seems more of a dubbel, though perhaps a bit more hops and yeast apparency. Anyways, much better than Westmalle dubbel in my book, and a step up in complexity from New Belgium's Abbey. Fine stuff.

First rating
33 cl bottle
Clear brown color, tan fluffy head. Fruity spicy and a bit alcohol scent, marzipan. Sweet as well, rather complex smell, but not extreme. Very full mouthfeel. Sweet and taste flavor. Like drinking candy/sweets. Low bitterness. Sweetm but really nice, aftertaste.
8/4/8/4/17=4.1

Rerate
Bottle at a blind tasting
On August 30, 2009
Cloudy dark brown color, off-white head. Sweet, spicy, alcohol scent. Sweet, alcohol taste. Medium to moussy mouthfeel, hoppy aftertaste, low bitterness.
7/3/7/3/13=3.3

Medium brown color with a slight head. After having the 10- the 8 seems to have a lot less body and complexity. Seems almost as if they just took the 10 and watered it down a bit. Mostly a fruity and raisiny aroma and flavor with lots of yeastiness in the background.

(33cl Bottle) Creamy, foamed, almond head and a cloudy dark brown body. Orange peel, spice and barley nose. Flavourful citrus with cloves. Full, smooth alcoholic finish with excellent malt and cocoa.